Thein Sein

Thein Sein (20 April 1945-) was the President of Burma from 30 March 2011 to 30 March 2016, succeeding Than Shwe and preceding Htin Kyaw.

Biography
Thein Sein was born on 20 April 1945 in Kyonku, British Burma. He became a Second Lieutenant in the Tatmadaw in 1968, and he rose in the ranks during the Internal conflict in Burma. In 2004, he was promoted to General, and in 2007-2010 he served as the acting Prime Minister of Burma. In 2010, he retired from the army to join the Union Solidarity and Development Party, a nationalist liberal party. In 2011, he was elected President of Burma after General Than Shwe decided to end the military's control of the government, holding the office until 2016. During his tenure, Thein Sein had to deal with insurgencies by the Karen people and other minority groups, and he remained in office until the opposition National League for Democracy won the 2016 parliamentary elections and took power. Htin Kyaw was the first civilian president in 50 years.